ISLAMABAD: A confirmed Covid-19 patient moved around in Rawalpindi, Islamabad and Chakwal and the administrations of the two districts blamed each other for the negligence.

Officials in Pims and the capital administration told Dawn that the 52-year-old man from Farid Kassar of Chakwal was a patient of end-stage renal disease and underwent renal transplant in a private hospital in Rawalpindi in 2014. He came to Rawalpindi on April 27 and then moved to a private hospital in the capital for a follow-up visit with a nephrologist.

The patient was admitted to a ward of the hospital due to his high blood pressure where a Covid-19 patient was also hospitalised. As the patient from Chakwal developed symptoms of the virus, his samples were sent for test and the result came back positive. The patient was then referred to Pims where his chest X-ray was done which was normal.

According to officials, the patient was advised admission but he refused and went back to Chakwal in a private car without following any SOP.

After the issue was brought to the knowledge of the capital administration, the executive director (ED) of Pims, Dr Ansar Maxood, was asked to conduct an inquiry.

The hospital management said the patient was admitted but later left without the hospital administration’s permission. The district authorities, on the other hand, showed their displeasure with the Pims administration for not informing them about the patient.

The capital administration also approached the Rawalpindi and Chakwal administrations and expressed displeasure over their failure to intercept and quarantine the patient. The Chakwal district administration, meanwhile, blamed Pims for the negligence.

The patient was tracked when he was on his way to Chakwal in a cab by officials of Chakwal administration and taken to the High Dependency Unit of District Headquarters Hospital Chakwal. The driver of the cab was also isolated in the hospital from where his samples were sent for Covid-19 test.

“This was sheer negligence by Pims admin as a Covid-19 patient was allowed to go home along with his driver without observing the standard operating procedure (SOP),” Deputy Commissioner Chakwal retired Captain Abdul Sattar Esani told Dawn.

Meanwhile, Pims ED Ansar Maxood said: “A patient had arrived from a private hospital in G-8 where he had undergone kidney transplant. He was tested for Covid-19 after another patient in the ward was diagnosed with coronavirus. After his reports came back positive, he was referred to Pims where his chest X-ray was conducted.

The patient told the doctors that he would return after collecting his belongings from the taxi he had travelled in but did not return. The hospital authorities then informed the district administration about the patient and asked it to trace him.”

Published in Dawn, May 2nd, 2020